Device facilitating use of dental floss

ABSTRACT

A pair of caps or thimbles engage over two fingers of the user and the closed ends of the thimbles are apertured to allow feeding of the dental floss from a supply container as required to clean the teeth. The thimbles frictionally clamp the dental floss to the fingers so that the floss may be properly tensioned for use without the inconvenience and frequent discomfort which arises when the dental floss must be wound around the finger tips. The device is efficient and economical.

United States Patent Adams, IV

[ 1 Oct. 10, 1972 [54] DEVICE FACILITATING USE oF DENTAL FLOSS [72]Inventor: John Q. Adams, IV, 1206 Foxcroft Road, Richmond, Va. 23229[22] Filed: Oct. 14, 1971 [21] Appl.No.: 189,082

[52] US. Cl ..132/91 [51] Int. Cl ..A6lc 15/00 [58] Field of Search..132/91, 92, 89, 90; 223/101 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS I 1,966,463 7/ 1934 Rose ..132/92 R 2,415,957 2/ 1947 McCormack..223/ 101 2,447,774 9/1948 Salisbury ..223/101 Primary Examin erLouisG. Mancene Assistant Examiner-4. Q. Lever Attorney-B. P. Fishburne, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT A pair of caps or thimbles engage over two fingers of theuser and the closed ends of the thimbles are apertured to allow feedingof the dental floss from a supply container as required to clean theteeth. The thimbles frictionally clamp the dental floss to the fingersso that the floss may be properly tensioned for use without theinconvenience and frequent discomfort which arises when the dental flossmust be wound around the finger tips. The device is efficient andeconomical.

8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEDUEI 10 m2 INVENTOR JOHN Q. ADAMS,II

DEVICE FACILITATING USE OF DENTAL FLOSS Modern-day dentists increasinglyadvocate the daily use of dental floss for maintaining healthy teeth andgums. Despite the strong recommendation of dentists, dental floss israrely used by the public even though most people are very conscious ofa dental hygiene program. The reason behind the seeming reluctance touse dental floss regularly is apparently the inconvenience of using itplus the fact that its proper use requires some elemental skill whichthe average person is unwilling to take the time to acquire. Whenproperly used, dental floss can greatly promote the health of teeth andgums by dislodging food particles near the gums which a toothbrushalmost never reaches.

To successfully use dental floss between all of the teeth, the flossmust be tensioned to a considerable degree and forced between each pairof teeth. To accomplish this, the user customarily coils the flossaround two finger tips, usually the index fingers, and

then employs the. thumbs to grip the ends of the floss and applies thenecessary tension. This can be very uncomfortable and painful to thefingers and will cut off blood circulation during the course of acomplete tooth cleaning operation.

Certain mechanical devices to aid in the use of the floss have beenproposed in the prior art, such as forked holders having a handle, withsome means to anchor the floss across the tips of the fork. Thesedevices are not popular for a number of reasons. First, they are bulkyand difficult to manipulate in the mouth. In short, they are veryawkward. Additionally, most people will not take the time to utilize aninstrument which must be threaded, tensioned and manipulated each time anew section of floss is required.

With the above in mind, the present invention has for its object theprovision of an extremely simple device or aid to facilitate and promotethe daily use of dental floss in the proper manner and withoutdiscomfort at the finger tips or inconvenience to the user. The deviceis so simple and economical that the dental floss manufacturer can wellafford to supply it at no extra cost with an ordinarily householdpackage of floss. Additionally, the dentist should findthe device usefuland time-saving in regular teeth-cleaning operations. The devicerequires no skill or practice and is very efficient.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentduring the course of the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING FIGURES FIG. 1 is a perspective view of adental floss manipulating aid or device embodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the device in assembledrelationship with a dental floss container.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the device in relation to thecontainer and dental floss.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modification of theinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein likereference numerals designate like parts, the numeral designates anordinary cylindrical container for dental floss 11. The manipulatingdevice or aid for using dental floss embodying the present inventioncomprises an identical pair of generally cylindrical thimbles or caps 12adapted to engagesnugly over the fingers, as shown in FIG. 1, and alsoadapted to be placed telescopically and removably over the opposite endsof the container 10 for convenience and to prevent the parts frombecoming lost. The thimbles 12 have their closed ends sphericallyrounded as shown at 13 and each thimble is provided centrally in itsrounded end with a small guide aperture 14 for the dental floss 11.Preferably, the thimbles 12 are of sufficient length to extend over andsomewhat beyond the first knuckle of the index finger and the thimblesmay be longer and may extend close to the second knuckle 15, if desired.The thimbles 12 are preferably rigid and may be formed of metal, plasticor the like. In some cases, semi-rigid plastic material may be suitable.

In use, the thimbles 12 are removed from the container 10 and a lengthof the floss 11 is withdrawn from the container and threaded through theapertures 14 of the thimbles, as shown in FIG. 1. The two thimbles arethen applied snugly over the two index fingers in most cases and thenecessary tension is applied to the section of floss 11 between the twothimbles to permit its efficient use in tooth cleaning. The frictionalengagement between the dental floss, thimbles and the fingers will allowa rather high degree of tension to be exerted on the floss withoutslippage and it is unnecessary to wrap or coil the dental floss aroundthe fingers or around the thimbles during usage. However, shouldadditional tension ever be required in unusual cases, the floss could becoiled around the thimbles 12 externally and clamped thereagainst by thethumbs during use to positively assure no slippage. The floss 11 may besevered from the supply in the container 10 during usage, as desired.

When it is necessary to adjust the floss so as to present a freshsection for usage, the two thimbles may simply be loosened on thefingers and the floss may be pulled from the container through the twoguide openings 14. These two small openings also assist in thetensioning of the section 11 during usage since they apply a high degreeof friction to the floss at the points where the floss changesdirections when leading from one thimble to the other.

A small amount of practice will enable the user to employ the dentalfloss much more conveniently, more economically and with more personalcomfort than would be the case were the aid not used. The use of the aidor device will also render the cleaning of teeth more complete and moreefficient and will lessen the wasting of dental floss which frequentlyoccurs in practice because the floss tends to slip in the fingers whenit is wet and impatient users tend to pull off unnecessarily largeamounts of floss to wrap around the fingers.

It should also be mentioned that the thimble elements 12 are preferablyflanged at 16 adjacent their open ends to provide additional surfacesagainst which the severed ends of the floss strand may be pressed by thethumbs to increase friction and prevent slippage of the floss. The endsof the floss may be clamped by the two thumbs anywhere against the outersurfaces of the two thimbles.

In FIG. 4, a somewhat simplified embodiment of the invention is shownwherein a pair of split bands or rings 17 are applied over the two indexfingers 18 of the user near the finger tips. The bands 17 are preferablysplit as indicated at 19 to permit adjusting their diameters tofitvarious sizes of fingers. The dental floss strand 20 being manipulatedhas its ends extended between. the fingers l8 and the bores-of the bands17, and the thumbs 21 may then be used as shown to securely clamp'th'efree ends of the floss strand against the outer sides of the two bands17 to prevent slippage.

it is believed that the advantages ofthe invention and its mode of useshould now be clearly apparent without the necessity for furtherexplanation.

It is to be understood thatthe form of the invention herewith shown anddescribed is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and thatvarious changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may beresorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scopeof the subjoined claims.

I claim: I

1. A means to facilitate and. promote the use of dental floss forcleaning the teeth comprising the combination of a pair of thimbleelements and dental floss, said thimble elements being engageable snuglyover the ends of fingers of the user, each thimble element having asmall guide aperture" for a strand of dental floss formed through itsclosed end, whereby the dental floss strand may be extended andtensioned between the two thimble elements, the dental floss beingfrictionallyj held between the bores of the thimble elements and the twofingers upon which the thimble elements are mounted.

2. The structure of claim 1, and the two thimbleelements beingsubstantially rigid generally cylindrical bodies having rounded closedends and said small guide apertures being formed centrally throughthe'rounded ends. Y

' "3. The structure of cl'aim 2, and said thimble elements'being ofsufficient length to extend over at, least the first knuck'les'of thetwo fingers on which they are mounted during use.

4. The structure ofc'laim 3, and the thimble elements being externallyflanged at their inner ends to provide surfaces against which oppositeextended ends of dental floss may be clamped by the thumbs during usage.

5. The structure of claim 1, and a substantially cylindrical containerof dental floss, the thimble elements being telescopically engageableover the opposite ends of the container during periods of non-use toform a unitary assembly, one of said thimble elements then forming aremovable closure cap for the container.

6. A device to facilitate using dental floss for cleaning-the teethcomprising a pair of substantially annular elements engageable'snuglyover two fingers of the user, and a strand of dental floss extending ina taut section between the two annular elements, the arrangement beingsuch that free ends of the floss strand may be engaged by the thumbs ofthe user and securely clamped against the outer surfaces of the elementsto prevent slippage of the strand during use.

7.'The structure of claim 6, and said annular elements comprising a pairof bands engageable over said fingers near the tips of the fingers.

8. The structure of claim 7, and said bands being split to render themreadily adjustable to fingers of' various sizes. I

1. A means to facilitate and promote the use of dental floss forcleaning the teeth comprising the combination of a pair of thimbleelements and dental floss, said thimble elements being engageable snuglyover the ends of fingers of the user, each thimble element having asmall guide aperture for a strand of dental floss formed through itsclosed end, whereby the dental floss strand may be extended andtensioned between the two thimble elements, the dental floss beingfrictionally held between the bores of the thimble elements and the twofingers upon which the thimble elements are mounted.
 2. The structure ofclaim 1, and the two thimble elements being substantially rigidgenerally cylindrical bodies having rounded closed ends and said smallguide apertures being formed centrally through the rounded ends.
 3. Thestructure of claim 2, and said thimble elements being of sufficientlength to extend over at least the first knuckles of the two fingers onwhich they are mounted during use.
 4. The structure of claim 3, and thethimble elements being externally flanged at their inner ends to providesurfaces against which opposite extended ends of dental floss may beclamped by the thumbs during usage.
 5. The structure of claim 1, and asubstantially cylindrical container of dental floss, the thimbleelements being telescopically engageable over the opposite ends of thecontainer during periods of non-use to form a unitary assembly, one ofsaid thimble elements then forming a removable closure cap for thecontainer.
 6. A device to facilitate using dental floss for cleaning theteeth comprising a pair of substantially annular elements engageablesnugly over two fingers of the user, and a strand of dental flossextending in a taut section between the two annular elements, thearrangement being such that free ends of the floss strand may be engagedby the thumbs of the user and securely clamped against the outersurfaces of the elements to prevent slippage of the strand during use.7. The structure of claim 6, and said annular elements comprising a pairof bands engageable over said fingers near the tips of the fingers. 8.The structure of claim 7, and said bands being split to render themreadily adjustable to fingers of various sizes.